The invention relates to a shock wave generator for the generation of shock waves for contactless fragmentation of concrements (e.g. kidney stones) in the body of a living being.
Such a shock wave generator (a tube) is described in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 33 12 014. There a concave coil is provided which together with a diaphragm generates a focused shock wave. The shock waves are triggered when a capacitor is discharged into the coil via a spark gap. However, no measures are described for continuously monitoring the functionality of the shock wave generator.
A shock-wave tube of the type considered herein is also described in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 634,021, filed 07/24/1984 and entitled "Apparatus for the Contact-Free Desintegration of Calculi", the disclosure of which application is incorporated herein by reference.
Such monitoring would be advantageous especially for guarding the patient from possible harm due to an alteration of the field geometry or an excessively high pressure shock wave. It would further be advantageous to detect defects as they occurred to prevent further damage.
One object of the present invention is to provide a shock wave generator in which alteration of its characteristics is recognized at an early time.